Pony Carts and Parks

So, for those of you that have never experienced something as enjoyable as a pony cart, you'd better check this out. We were invited to the park since it was getting a little cooler (ha,ha) to have a pot-luck lunch and let the kids play and ride the pony cart. It was a great way to spend a day. The kids loved riding around on the cart and Jadyn even got to 'drive'.


Seriously, doesn't this look like fun?

One of my personal favorite stories from our Park Day happened shortly after we arrived. Jadyn was pointing me out to one of her friends from preschool (not knowing they are 2nd cousins) and told her that following,

"That is my Mom. She is very nice and so stylish."

Now, that not only made my day, but I knew I had to write it down so that when she is a teen and I am nowhere near "stylish", I will have this to look back on.

A few of the older kids tried to get a game of Red Rover going. I laughed when Jadyn was called over and "fell down" before ever trying to break the line. We'll have to work on that.

This is a picture with most of the young'uns. There were are few missing, but we captured most of the group and the all important Pony Cart.

My cute sister-in-law Melanie and her sweet little Addison.

Hyrum seems to be making friends with a younger cousin - except when she tried to take his blanket.

Jenna and Razzie were sitting on one side of a wagon and enjoying all of the yummy snacks.

Peek-a-boo! I see you, Jadyn!

Every kid needs to have time to rock with Nana and the park provided a perfect place to get away from our normal routine and relax. I count it a great blessing to have such an amazing mother-in-law. She is an extrodinary person and she loves her family so much. I really enjoy watching her with my kids. They all adore her. Apparently she had the magic touch on this particular day, becuase Hyrum actually fell asleep in her arms. Aren't they beautiful together?

This is Jenna tucking Hyrum in for his nap. Isn't that sweet? Jared's aunts made the beautiful quilts under him. I should have taken a photo of just the quilts. They are gorgous. Although I think the little boy sleeping on them is pretty darn cute as well.

Thanks for such a fun play day!

Grandma's Surprise Gift

The day after Hyrum's birthday, Grandma called and asked if the kids might be interested in a train ride at the park. Of course, my kids LOVE that sort of thing and it was a great surprise.

With the exception of loosing one of Jenna's flip-flops on our second train ride, (I tell you, Jenna looses more shoes than any other kid I have ever known) everyone had so much fun on the little train. They waved to people and got really excited to see all of the ducks. When we asked Hyrum, 'What does a duck say?' his immediate response was, "Rrrrrrr!" By the end of the night he was saying something closer to "Quack, quack."

Hyrum was not a big fan of riding the horses on the carousel, but he did like sitting and waving at Grandma as we went around and around. Once he got off, he loved waving and yelling, "Hi-ah!" at his sisters and Mom.

Thanks, Grandma for such a fun day at the park! I feel like my kids are especially blessed with wonderful grandparents. I am grateful for the days when we all just get to play together and create a bunch of memories. The kids were thrilled to ride the rides and see the ducks. It was a perfect way to celebrate Hyrum's birthday. As we drove home Jadyn remarked,

"It is so good that Hyrum had a birthday so that Grandma could take us to ride the carousel and the train at the park. Will Jenna's birthday be next week?"

At the Playground

This is going to be a long post. Mostly becuase I have been thinking a lot about not missing these precious moments and days with my 3 young children. (That is a hard thing to do when most days I am busy from dawn til night just trying to keep up with the little munchkins.) Since I haven't taken as many photos (with my little digital camera broken) I took a bunch of my kids when we went to the park at sunset on September 20th. I tried to capture them as I hope to remember them at this age...full of life, bubbling over with laughter and energy, and just being themselves.

Jenna is a Monkey and The Story of the Bugs

My little wisp of a girl, Jenna is a monkey. She can climb anything. She is fast and fearless. If I blink she is on top of something or climbing anything that she can. The first set of pictures are of her being a monkey.

The Story of the Bugs. I am sure that she will be so embarrassed over this story when she is older, but I had to add it. (After all she is a 2 year old that is potty trained that chooses to wear diapers and pull ups because she is lazy.) We had been playing at the park for almost an hour when Jenna started yelling for me, "Mom! Mom! The bugs are getting me! Mom!"

As I ran closer to her, I saw about 6 - 8 flies buzzing around her. She was swatting at them and getting really agitated. She was yelling, "Shoo Fly, don't bother me! Mom! They are not listening! The bugs are getting me! Mom! Come help me!"

When I was only a few steps from her I realized why the flies were so persistent. Jenna smelled riper than any bit of old garbage at the park. She had used her diaper (instead of telling me that she needed to use the toilet) and that little girl had a stench that almost made my eyes water. It was bad, and she was dealing with the flies as a result of the smell.

We ended our park trip and headed home to throw all the kids in the tub...especially the extra ripe one. Jadyn didn't even want to be by her as we went home. She was pretty stinky.

Jadyn Loves the Spotlight

Anytime I have out the camera or the video camera, Jadyn jumps in front of the camera all of the time. Sometimes I have to chase her away so I can get a few shots of her siblings. She really likes to be photographed and she always is yelling, "Mom, come over here and take a picture of me doing ____!" (Whatever she is doing at the time.) The playground is no exception. As soon as the camera came out, she was jumping in front of her siblings and trying to get my attention. She giggles the entire time. What a funny kid.

Hyrum is a big boy

It is hard for me to believe that my baby is growing up so quickly. He is at home playing outside. He loves to get dirty. He loves to chase his sisters around. He is curious and has to check everything out himself. While I was snapping pictures, I stood there almost too surprised to take pictures when I saw him (fortunately I kept my wits about me enough to grab a few photos ). Hyrum was climbing up the slide. Why not? He'd seen Jenna do it, and off he was. I was shocked that he made it all the way to the top all by himself. Afterwards, he turned back for just a fleeting moment and grinned as if to say, "That wasn't so hard. See Mom, I made that look easy." Then he was off and playing again. He gets bigger and smarter every single day. I wish there was a slow down button. I hoped he would be content to be a baby just a bit longer.

We had a good time at the park. I love my little kids. I know years from now I'll look back and wish I could have frozen days like this - when my kids were so silly and carefree. I laugh all day long at the funny things that they say and do - sometimes I almost cry because of all of the chaos in my life, but I choose to laugh instead. Since I can't really freeze time, I can freeze a few moments. That is why I take pictures. That is why I keep journals. This is what it is all about.

Freestone Park

Grandpa took the day off of work so that he could play with the grand kids. We all decided to meet at Freestone Park for an afternoon of fun and fishing. Sadly, the fishing only lasted a few minutes, but the fun continued throughout the entire afternoon. The kids loved riding the carousel, wave runners, and train. Here are some of the photos from our great outing at the park.

This is my cute sister riding on the train with her three boys. Drew (3) is sitting next to her and she is holding Owen (1). Matthew (5) is actually sitting by Jadyn in the row behind. Riding around on the train was fun because the boys kept making the train whistle sound, "Whoo, Whoo!" and waving to everyone that we drove past. Jenna thought that her cousins were so funny making noises and she giggled the whole ride.

The playground area was our last adventure of the day. With slides, swings, and lots of sand we hoped the kids would run and play until they were completely worn out. Funny enough, I think that the kids ended up wearing me out first. Matthew was a tornado for awhile and he recruited Jadyn and Drew to chase me around the park. I wasn't ready for all of that running and I finally had to admit that I lost to the Tornado. Fortunately Grandpa was there to play as well. He was even able to secure the Tire Swing for the kids. Who knew they would have so much fun with all of them on the same swing?

Seriously, just look at their faces. They were all laughing the entire time the tire swing was spinning around. At least I know that next time I won't spend the money on an unlimited pass to ride the rides. Thanks to Grandpa, the tire swing was the best ride of the day!

Now at the end of the day, this is what it all comes down to...we had a blast with our cousins. I wish we could see them more often. They all grow up so quickly. Here are all 6 kids down by the water. We have a kid for every age right now 5,4,3,2,1, & a baby. (If you count Jadyn and Jenna by their next birthday in May...)